Coventry police tweet on the beat

Inspector Alastair Orencas, front, with Sgt John Hannon, Pc Brett Price and Sgt Sharon Bent with Twitter on their phones

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POLICE in Coventry are going online and using Twitter as the latest tool in the fight against crime.

Officers are using the ‘micro blogging’ website to tell people how to keep their homes safe or if they’ve made a big arrest.

They are also using twitter.com to keep each other up to date with what they are up to.

Using small bits of information - just 140 characters – each of the city’s neighbourhood police teams are regularly posting ‘tweets’.

Many are being posted while the officers are out on the beat.

And their thousands of ‘followers’ are reading what they have to say.

There are no messages from ‘the top’ or impenetrable police jargon in sight, Instead officers are communicating with the public they serve in everyday speak.

There are currently more than 4,000 people in the city ‘following’ their local police teams and using the website to communicate with them.

Inspector Alastair Orencas, aka Coventry_Police, has more than 600 followers and played a key role in galvanising other officers to get online.

In recent posts, Insp Orencas has informed his ‘followers’ about the arrest of a prolific burglar in Willenhall, posted a photograph of a seized mini-moto bike and encouraged homeowners to be vigilant following a string of burglaries.

He said: “We have 18 neighbourhood teams all following each other.

“We can see what each other are doing and communicate with those following us.

“At first it was about promoting the good work being done but now it has also moved into being a consultative tool with people feeding back on community issues.

“The next stage will be holding live ‘twit cam’ discussions with the public.”

Insp Orencas explained Coventry was one of the first areas within the West Midlands to have a strategy of how officers should be using Twitter and encouraged the city’s neighbourhood teams to get on board.

“We want local people to ‘follow’ us. We’re not interested if someone in Buenos Aires is following us. We want people in Coventry to follow us – it’s about getting the right people to follow us,” he added.

Pc Brett Price and Sergeant John Hannan, aka Cheylesmore_WMP, currently have 112 followers on their Twitter page.

Pc Price said: “Initially we weren’t sure what we could and couldn’t say but we have received some guidance – it’s a commonsense approach.

“We know what we can and can’t tell people.

“We started by reporting what crimes had taken place and when we had people in for crimes.

“We have been getting good feedback from local councillors and residents.

“A lot of the time people don’t come to us straight away, they complain among themselves or to their councillor.

“But now they are putting it on Twitter for us to read.”

Sgt Hannan added: “I like it because it shows us as individuals. While it’s balanced and measured, it gives people the opportunity to speak to us in normal everyday speak.

“It is also a source of good news stories.

“The public always ask us what we have done with the information they have given us and we can keep them updated.

“We can also respond to the information they give us straight away. It’s a new tool we can use every day. It’s really user and reader friendly.”

Officers are using the site to also communicate with other police forces and to swap ideas.

Police are keen to stress their Twitter pages are not a replacement for reporting incidents in the traditional way but instead it is seen as an additional tool.

With messages reaching thousands within minutes, Insp Orencas also says the site is handy for rubbishing myths.

He explained: “I was recently driving back from a meeting and heard on the car radio there had been violent clashes between police and protesting students at Warwick University.

“I hadn’t heard anything about it, so drove up there to have a look and there had been no violence whatsoever.

“I posted that was the case and many got to see it. Live radio reports mentioned the tweet and people had the right information.”

“With mobile phones, it is a lot more instant. You can update people on the run,” added Sergeant Sharon Bent, aka Whoberleypolice with 147 followers.

Live ‘twit-cam’ discussions have also recently begun in the city, where the public have been given the opportunity to speak to officers online.